POI INDEPENDENCE DAY crossover fusion
by whomii2
Summary: Team Machine and friends face an alien invasion
1. Chapter 1 The Arrival

Nathan Ingram had been feeling pretty good about his Presidency. The economy was doing well, he made some promising diplomatic visits, and his party had managed to get several important pieces of legislation through Congress. Things were looking good and a second term seemed like a real possibility.

Then disaster struck.

He had been alerted when a large object was detected headed for Earth. Initially it was feared to be an asteroid on a collision course. When it slowed down and changed trajectory slightly, they were forced to conclude that it wasn't a natural object.

Nathan was going to be remembered as the President when Earth made first contact.

Relief that they were not going to be hit by a giant asteroid turned to dismay when what they began to call the Mother Ship released several large vessels that took up positions over major cities around the world. Everyone was anxious and wondering what were the aliens' intentions. Were they friend or foe?

Press Secretary Corwin was starting to look a bit frazzled, trying to keep control of the press corps when they really had no information. The tabloids were having a field day, bringing out some of their most bizarre and outrageous stories and proclaiming in lurid headlines that they were right all along.

Nathan held a briefing with Secretary of State Carter, trying to come up with a policy if they were able to open a dialog with the aliens. Unfortunately so far they had little luck in getting any response.

Then Harold arrived.


	2. Chapter 2 Flashback-The Good Old Days

Harold and Nathan went way back, to their college days at MIT. Nathan had taken the young genius under his wing, guiding the shy young man through the confusing social world of college life. They had maintained contact while Nathan was stationed overseas in the Air Force.

When Nathan eventually left the service they had started an IT company together, and the coupling of Harold's brilliance and Nathan's people skills soon had it becoming a huge success. They became rich, and Nathan decided he could make a contribution by going into politics. Harold supported his friend, donating time and money and drumming up support. But always one to stay away from the limelight, he had started to drift away from his friend once Nathan won the election. With the heavy demands on his time posed by the Presidency, Nathan had been unable to change that situation. Soon the only contact he had with Harold was the occasional email and the presence of Harold's ex-girlfriend, Grace.

The relationship had fizzled when Grace found out that instead of the working class IT guy he had presented himself as, Harold was in fact the multi-billionaire owner of the company and the power behind the election of his best friend to President.

Unbeknownst to her, Nathan had given Grace a job in the administration at Harold's urging. She was a sweet girl but a bit of an airhead, and Harold was concerned that even with him buying up all of her artwork she wouldn't make enough to keep afloat as her money management skills were somewhat poor. So Nathan commissioned her to design his official Presidential dinner plates, and kept her on to arrange the flowers in the White House. Or something. He wasn't sure exactly what they had come up with to keep her occupied. He just knew he would see her flitting around the place from time to time.


	3. Chapter 3 The Aliens Attack

Nathan wasn't sure why Harold would seek him out in the present circumstances, but he had always had his back in the past and still remained one of the smartest men Nathan had ever met. As well as one of the most paranoid and devious—which in this case worked to their advantage because it was that combination that allowed Harold to uncover the secret signal the aliens were using to coordinate their attack. Unfortunately it also revealed that they had very little time left, and a mad scramble to board Air Force One quickly ensued.

They just made it out in time, but were rather dismayed to discover that a number of major cities had been devastated by the attack. Muttering "I picked the wrong week to give up drinking" Alicia wandered off to the bar and wasn't heard from again. The news worsened when they learned that their hidey-hole bunker had also been attacked, and that Vice President Elias was most likely killed when the base was incinerated. They were demoralized and wondering where they could go to plan, and what they could actually do to fight against such a seemingly overwhelming force.


	4. Chapter 4 Agent Shaw

Secret Service Agent Shaw stared out the window of Air Force One and thought of her brief interactions with some of the other staff during a recent retreat at Camp David. In particular the agent assigned to guard the VP, who they affectionately called "Scarface" for the injury he had received while trying to disarm a crazed civilian trying to attack Elias with a spork. She wished with all her heart she had a death ray...

The assignment of a female secret service agent to the President's personal detail was somewhat unusual. But as a widower Ingram had no designated hostess for official functions. As his "partner" Shaw could stay close to keep an eye out for possible threats. Although no one would accuse her of being diplomatic, all she had to do was dress nice, keep quiet, and try to smile without baring her teeth at the guests.

Nathan liked to flirt a little with Shaw (actually with everyone) and she returned the favor by insulting him. She was secretly a little charmed by his overtures, even though it would never go anywhere. The man was still mourning his dead wife Olivia and wasn't ready to move on yet (at least so she thought).


	5. Chapter 5 A Secret is Revealed

The pity party aboard Air Force One was interrupted when Harold declared "We should go to Area 51. They might know something that might help."

"I know how you love your conspiracy theories Harold, but there is no Area 51."

Harold gave Nathan **The Look**. Nathan hated **The Look**. He had been in his time a pretty good engineer, a war hero, CEO of a successful fortune 500 company, and was currently President and leader of the free world. Yet that **Look** of Harold's still made Nathan feel like a naïve fool.

"Harold, you can take it from me—there are no aliens. Well, clearly there are **THESE** aliens, but not those other aliens. Or an Area 51. Or a conspiracy. After all I am President, and I would know...wouldn't I?" Nathan trailed off uncertainly. Harold's gaze hadn't wavered, and from past experience Nathan knew that when Harold was so determined about something he was usually proved to be right.

"You would certainly think so, Mr. President. Sadly in this case it appears you have been...uninformed. Isn't that right Director Snow?"

Mark Snow cursed under his breath and scowled. Of course he had to be Director of the CIA when the shit hit the fan. First he was going to have to be the one to admit that the Agency had been hiding things from Presidents for years. Then he was going to have to admit that despite all their secrecy and whopping clandestine budget they had discovered very little intel that would be actually helpful in fighting the invasion. And finally it seemed he was likely to get incinerated by said aliens due to said woeful lack of intel. If Evans didn't get back soon with the good coffee he wasn't going to be held accountable for his actions.


	6. Chapter 6 Area 51

Harold had actually been clued in to Area 51 and all it held by his old MIT buddy Arthur Claypool. Arthur had been sent to head up Area 51 when his memory began to fail. He had plenty of research to keep him happy, and the complete isolation meant that he couldn't inadvertently spill any classified information while he was in a confused state. Of course Harold wasn't one to let a little thing like a Top Secret and Very Hush Hush clandestine operation stand in the way of his checking up on an old friend. So he had wormed his way into the Area 51 systems and made contact with Arthur. Some comments Arthur let slip in his emails...intrigued Harold, who did a bit more snooping and discovered the real goings on at Area 51. Fortunately for the ongoing operation of the covert base, Harold never met a secret he couldn't keep.

There was quite a commotion when Air Force One arrived in Area 51. Visitors were a rarity to the secret military base. Arthur was thrilled to see his old friend Harold in person. Harold and his ex-roommate - good old What's-His-Name.

The rest of the party was a bit bemused at seeing the head of Area 51 fawning over the seemingly innocuous Finch while the President stood right next to him. Nathan was the only one besides Harold who saw nothing odd about the behavior, as that was almost exactly the way Arthur had treated him back in their college days.

Colonel Hersh hurried forward to try and smooth over the situation. He wasn't sure who he had pissed off to get an assignment in the back end of nowhere playing nanny to a bunch of science geeks and their alien autopsies, but he didn't want to see what station would be worse if the lead geek ended up insulting the President on his watch.


	7. Chapter 7 Meanwhile at the Air Base

Reese was listening intently to the briefing on the alien threat and trying to ignore the snarky comments from his flight partner. Stanton had glommed onto him when he first joined the squad, saying he made good eye candy in his flight suit. She had named him "Johnny Rocket" and declared he would be her new wing man. Reese privately thought the name was rather stupid, but he had quickly learned that nobody crossed "Killer Kara." She was nasty, bad tempered, and rather bloodthirsty. Hence the rest of his squadron consisted of "Squid", "Odie," and "Snookums." Snookums was the living proof of why it was a bad idea to get on Stanton's bad side. John thought that the other pilot must die a little inside every time he heard his call sign.

He tried to keep his thoughts on the mission and away from worry about his ex-fiancée, Jessica. Reese had been planning a lifetime with Jess once upon a time. That is, until the day everything changed – the day he got his rejection letter from NASA.

No cushy job in Florida piloting the space shuttle for him. Instead he could be posted anywhere in the world in a war zone. He couldn't have Jess waiting for him back at base, never knowing if he would return from his latest mission. She deserved better than that. So he broke up with her (it was for duty damn it, not cold feet). But he never stopped loving her.

She hadn't taken it well, and claimed the dog in the breakup. It was especially awkward as Reese had yet to be stationed overseas. They still constantly ran into each other as Jessica was a nurse in the base infirmary.


	8. Chapter 8 Battle in the Desert

The time to face the enemy was upon them. They didn't know what to expect, but were grimly determined to get a little payback for the devastation these evil alien bastards had brought. A salvo of missiles sent at the looming Space Ship had no effect, prevented from impacting by some sort of force field. They didn't have long to stew in the disappointment, as a small army of alien gliders came out to engage them. The fighting was soon fast and furious, with jets and gliders chasing each other across the sky in a deadly dance. Fortunately the smaller gliders didn't seem to have the same shielding as the large carrier ship and were vulnerable to their weapons. But there were a whole lot of them and the numbers soon began to take their toll.

Reese had lost track of most of his squadron and wasn't sure how many were even still in the fight. He did catch a glimpse of Kara in hot pursuit of an alien glider, finally succeeding in getting a lock and blasting it out of the sky. "Ha Ha! Got him! You better step up John, I can't take them all out by my-" Her comment was abruptly cut off as her jet went up in a spectacular fireball. Reese had always thought that she would go out in a blaze of glory, but some small part of him still couldn't believe that she was gone, as she was just too mean to die. Putting those thoughts aside for another day, he took off in pursuit of her killer. The glider led John on a merry chase, dodging all of his shots until he finally managed to strafe one side of it with his guns. He must have hit something vital, because there were several small explosions and an eruption of black smoke as the glider quickly began to plummet from the sky. Sadly the long pursuit had used up all of John's fuel and he was forced to abandon his own plane before it crashed.

Once on the ground, John checked his side arm and started off toward the plume of smoke indicating the final resting place of the alien glider. It had conveniently landed just a little ways off the highway, so John didn't have to scramble through too much brush to get to it. He drew his sidearm and approached with caution...

He had just registered that what passed for a cockpit in the ship was empty when he was grabbed from behind. Something wrapped around his neck, choking him, and he was shaken so hard he dropped his gun. He scrabbled uselessly at the tentacle strangling him to no avail. His sight began to dim and he thought this might be the end of him...

 **BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!**

Fusco let the alien have it with both barrels of his shotgun, causing it to drop its prey. He knew that old shotgun would come in handy! Although he was thinking more of guarding his food supply from bears not defending the Earth from aliens when he packed it. His moment of triumph quickly turned to dismay when the alien seemed to shake off the barrage with only minimal damage. He moved to place himself between the alien and his son, who was scared but determined as he braced himself with his hockey stick ready to take a swing. Reese shouted "run for it" as he dove on the alien with his knife, hoping to distract it from the civilians so that they could escape. He managed to score a few deep wounds while they ran off, before the alien grabbed him and threw him all the way over onto the other side of the street. Reese tried to catch his breath, looking around for a stick or rock to use as a weapon and wondering if his ribs had been cracked. Failing to find anything to use as a weapon, he prepared to fight with his bare hands as the alien started towards him from across the street.

 ***WHUMP!***

Suddenly from out of nowhere a camper slammed into the alien- catapulting it down the street before bumping over it with all 4 tires. Fusco then put it in reverse, backing over the alien to make sure. Lionel exited the camper, leaving his son behind the wheel just in case as he went over with John to examine the newly made road kill. Lionel poked it hesitantly with the barrel of his shotgun before Reese grabbed it away from him with a "Gimme that." They stared at it some more. "Is it dead d'ya think?" Lionel asked in hushed tones.

 **BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!**

Reese emptied the shotgun at the creature a second time "just to be sure." There was some argument about what to do with the carcass. Reese felt it could provide valuable intel on their enemy, while Fusco didn't want anything to do with the smelly thing. Finally they moved Lee's Schwinn and lashed the thing to the bike rack on the front of the camper with some rope and bungee cords. Leaning against the camper to catch their breath after mounting the grisly trophy, they began to plan their next move. Reese claimed to have seen a military base nearby when he flew past, although Fusco claimed no such base appeared on his map. Their discussion was interrupted when they gladly accepted some beers Lee brought them from the cooler. Clinking their bottles together in salute, they relaxed to enjoy their brewskies. It was definitely Miller time!


	9. Chapter 9 New Arrivals

Sergeant Donnelly pulled at his collar, trying to get a little relief from the heat out at the guard post. He wished he was where the action was, not stuck out here. At least Private Szymanski was stuck out here with him. Donnelly just knew he had been the one to start it. To nickname the Colonel "Grumpy Puss." The name had caught on amongst the men, but Hersh hadn't looked too pleased when he was presented with a birthday card from the unit bearing the likeness of the famous cat. And Hersh had been taking out his displeasure on them ever since. Donnelly knew Szymanski had been behind it because the Private had given him a Droopy Dog card for his birthday. He had been as thrilled as Hersh.

His thoughts were interrupted by a dull rumbling and a cloud of dust appearing in the distance. Gripping his rifle, Donnelly wondered just how effective it would be against alien ships that could withstand tactical nukes. He was relieved when the approaching intruders got closer and were shown to be an assortment of dusty vehicles making their way across the desert.

"Wow, its like something out of Road Warrior" Szymanski said.

Donnelly was about to tear the Private a new one when he noticed something strapped to the front of the lead camper. Was that what he thought it was? As the camper pulled to a stop at the gate Donnelly phoned in for instructions, calling out an irritated "Szymanski! Quit poking the alien with your gun! You don't know where its been."

Was it any wonder he and the Colonel were always in a bad mood when they had yahoos like this under their command?


	10. Chapter 10 Flashback-Bonding Experience

Fusco had a hard time transitioning back to life stateside after his discharge. It hadn't helped that his wife had welcomed him home with a set of divorce papers. Add to that the scarcity of positions for a fighter pilot in the civilian job market, and Lionel's life had quickly gone into a downward spiral. Depressed and alone, he had taken to drinking to drown his sorrows.

Then late one night on the way home it happened – The Abduction. He had a difficult time convincing anyone of his story due to his recent drinking habits. The only people who would believe him were all crazy. Still, he had made one connection while surfing some of the Alien Abduction and Conspiracy websites. Harold Blackbird seemed like an OK guy, if a little paranoid. He had sent Lionel a few sternly worded emails about his responsibilities and the important things in life. They had given Lionel just the jolt he needed to try and start getting his life back in order, and most importantly to reconnect with his son before he wasted any more time. He wanted to be a man that Lee could be proud to call dad.

So when he got custody of his son for the summer he had planned some father/son bonding during a camping trip. They could visit Disney Land, the Grand Canyon, and Las Vegas (and if Fusco took in a little adult entertainment while there, well, what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas). The plan had been working too. The long hours on the road and the shared space of the camper had forced Lee and Lionel to grow closer. Their initial awkward and stiff conversations eventually evolving into a more spirited discussion of sports, Lee's school friends, and Lionel's experience while stationed overseas.

Then came the invasion, and they ran into an alien. Literally


	11. Chapter 11 The Rescue

Reese was determined to return to his base and his Jessica and he wasn't going to let anything stand in his way. So after a quick bathroom break he hijacked a large helicopter and set off.

Reese's eyes welled with tears as he surveyed the devastated base that used to be his home. He staggered from the helicopter as his thoughts went to Jess...had he lost her? His Beloved, his True North, his reason for living? How could he live without her?

His moment of despair was interrupted when he was knocked to the ground by a furry brown missile. Bear gave John an enthusiastic greeting by slobbering all over his face. Reese was so happy to see his dog that he gave him a big hug, despite the fact that Bear must have been rolling in something smelly recently. John felt a glimmer of hope – if Bear was here, did that mean Jessica might also have survived? He gave Bear the command to find Jess, and quickly followed as the dog ran back in the direction from which he came.

Reese found a group of refugees huddled in the ruins of the barracks. Jessica was lying on the ground and another woman, clearly the leader of the group, was trying to make her comfortable. John fell to his knees beside her, taking her hand in his.

"Jess" he choked out, heart too full of emotion for him to express his feelings.

"I...waited...for...you." Jessica said with a tremulous smile. "I'm alright...its just a flesh wound."

John wasn't so sure, as Jess looked awful—her mascara and lipstick were smeared, and her hair was a tangled mess.

"Stay with me, Jess. I'm so sorry... leaving you was the third biggest mistake of my life. ** We were meant to be together. Please say you will marry me."

"Oh John" Jessica choked out, tears filling her eyes. "I have waited so long to hear those words from you...again. This time you better not chicken out on me."

"Never!" John vowed. He lifted her in his manly arms and clutched her to his chest, so full of relief he didn't even mind when she wiped her nose on his flight suit.

Reese said to the others "Come with me if you want to live" and headed back to the helicopter, Bear following faithfully at his heals.

 _**(Reese still ranks his embarrassing tattoo and the time he got a mullet haircut as the 2 biggest mistakes of his life.)_


	12. Chapter 12 Is there a Doctor in the Hous

The staff at Area 51 were more familiar with taking apart aliens than putting people together. Fortunately Nathan's son had been in the White House when they made their hasty exit.

Will Ingram was glad to finally have something useful to do. He had been feeling useless up to this point, and had mostly been trying to stay out of everyone's way and let his dad do Presidential things. He had taken a moment to confront his Uncle about the fact that the man had apparently been lying to him for his entire life. He wasn't an insurance salesman, he clearly wasn't a technophobe, and apparently his last name wasn't even Wren! Will had been somewhat mollified when Harold made some vague allusions to witness protection, covert operations, and secret identities. Who knew his boring old Uncle had it in him?

The infirmary on base was pretty rudimentary. But Will was used to working under primitive conditions from his time with Doctor's Without Borders. He had returned stateside when his father was elected as his security detail felt he was at too great a risk in the wilds of Africa (that and they were tired of all the damn mosquitos). Will then had to consider what he wanted to do with his life. He had taken a temporary position with the World Health Organization in Washington at his Uncle's urging, because Harold couldn't help giggling every time he referred to Will as "a doctor with WHO." He had hoped the proximity would allow him to spend time with his father, although Nathan's busy schedule meant they couldn't have as many get togethers as Will would like.

Will's revery was interrupted when the patient was wheeled into the examination room. Fortunately it really was just a flesh wound. A few stitches, some fluids, and a good nights rest and she would be back on her feet. Her fiancee shook Will's hand, choking up as he said "Thank you, Thank you" over and over again when Will delivered the good news. Will almost teared up himself when his dad clapped him on the back and said "I'm proud of you son." Even that crazy Secret Service lady that was always at his dad's side smirked at him and gave him a congratulatory punch on the arm. Will waited until he had cleared the room to let his patient sleep to rub at the punch site and check for bruising—that had really hurt!


	13. Chapter 13 Flashback-Leon

Private Leon Tao had been shuffled around to various postings by his superiors, who grew tired of the trouble he caused with his get-rich-quick schemes. Eventually he was exiled to the remote secret base of Area 51. Like most of the others stationed there, Leon had been surprised and excited to find out that there was other intelligent life in the universe. Unlike most of the others, Leon had quickly started to consider how he could work that knowledge to his advantage. He had made a few bucks selling tinfoil hats to the other residents of Area 51 after the 'Big Head+No Mouth=Telepathy' theory about the aliens had circulated among the men.

Leon wasn't willing to risk Leavenworth over stolen alien artefacts, but figured he could make a profit from the next best thing. He should be able to create the most authentic fakes available for sale. After all, he actually had the real things for models! And since they were fakes, it wasn't like he was doing anything wrong. His superiors hadn't agreed with his viewpoint, but were unwilling to risk exposure over prosecuting the infractions. So for the most part Leon had been confined to base, his off-duty activities monitored closely by 'By-the-Book' Donnelly.


	14. Chapter 14 Alien Autopsy Gone Awry

Leon had drawn the short straw and was stuck being the videographer for the autopsy of their new alien. Being in the operating room was a bit too up close and personal with the squishy stuff for Leon's taste. He tried to distract himself by fiddling with the settings on the camera, and idly wondering how much something like that cost. As the scientists finished arranging their equipment and began to carefully remove the alien's exoskeleton, Leon focused in on the chest area. Too engrossed in what was being revealed, no one noticed a slight movement of the alien's digits. The first sign of danger was when one of the alien's tentacles wrapped around Leon's neck. As the tentacle tightened around his throat and his consciousness began to dim, Leon thought that this was oddly reminiscent of his last date...

* * *

Arthur was escorting Nathan and Harold to the alien autopsy, Shaw and Hersh trailing along in their wake. Arthur had been filling them in on the information they had gathered about the aliens as they made their way to the observation room. Sadly, the aliens didn't seem to have many exploitable weaknesses to offset their formidable technology. As they approached their destination a wild-eyed scientist came running down the hall screaming "It's alive! It's alive!"

They rushed into the observation room, but couldn't make out many details in the laboratory through the glass as the room had become enveloped in smoke from a number of small fires. Suddenly with a loud **THWACK!** Private Tao was mashed up against the window and forced to act as spokes-puppet to convey the alien's demand to be released.

Nathan stepped forward to negotiate, trying to see if there was some way to compromise with the invaders. The alien's unhelpful reply was a command to "DIE! DIE! DIE!"

Then Nathan began to jerk and gyrate, clutching his head and moaning. Arthur's theories about the aliens' telepathic powers seemed to be confirmed. Frustrated over how to help him, Shaw turned to Hersh.

"Is that glass bullet proof?" She asked grimly.

"No Ma'am" Hersh replied.

With that the Agent and the Colonel drew their weapons and let the alien have it. Each had two weapons and were firing steadily with both hands. When the alien had finally fallen into a twitching heap on the ground, Shaw stayed with Nathan while Hersh went to check things out. He rolled the alien over with his toe and then emptied the rest of his ammo at the alien's head right between the eyes. Satisfied by the resulting splatter that this time the thing was really dead, he holstered his weapons and went to cut Private Tao loose from the tentacle.

Of course if one of his men was going to be half strangled by an alien, it would be Tao.


	15. Chapter 15 Dark Night of Despair

They were all pretty depressed after the disastrous alien encounter. How could they hope to survive, let alone win against the enemy? Were they all doomed?

Nathan found Harold moping in the canteen, surrounded by empty soda cans and staring despondently at pictures of Grace on his laptop. She had been none to pleased when Harold had confessed some other truths he might have fudged: Harold wasn't an orphan, had never been in the French Foreign legion, and had arbitrarily placed his birthday in October because he wanted to be a Libra. Nathan knew the other man needed to pull himself together if he was going to help them come up with a way out of this mess.

"Snap out of it man, we don't have time for this."

"I am going to spend the rest of my life alone."

"The rest of your life will be less than a day if you don't pull yourself together. Now come on, show us all you're just as smart as you always said you were."

"But Grace..."

"Will be more likely to take you back if you pull this off. Take it from me, women love a man who saves the day."

Harold had to admit that that seemed probable. After all look at that pilot. In the dog house with that nurse after stringing her along and then dumping her in the name of duty. But one rescue from almost certain death (or a really painful flesh wound) and suddenly he was back in her good graces. Saving the planet should certainly more than make up for a few little white lies in the relationship ledger.

Yes, yes he could do this! He would save the day and win Grace back! Geeks would inherit the Earth!

He began typing away furiously on his laptop, the picture of Grace minimized to the upper right corner of the screen to remind him what he was fighting for.


	16. Chapter 16 A New Hope

By early the next morning Harold was ready, and had everyone assembled in the bay holding the crashed alien glider they had recovered back in the 50's, because he couldn't get over how cool that was.

He quickly presented his Powerpoint slides illustrating how they would get around the shields preventing their weapons from having any effect on the alien ships:

 **Fly to Mother ship in recovered glider-Upload computer virus-Take down shields-Shoot 'em up=WIN!**

Harold was a bit put out when the response to his brilliant plan with the computer virus was rather skeptical. He even had Hersh demonstrate by shooting a soda can off the glider in the bay. Reese had eagerly volunteered to pilot the recovered glider on the mission, but the rest still weren't totally on board with the plan.

"Can you really write a virus on your laptop that would even be legible to an alien system, let alone have it override their own commands?"

"Pish posh, its all math, the universal language. Ones and zeros and all that..." replied Harold

"But what if they use a hexadecimal or octal scheme..." Arthur started.

"That would just be silly." Nathan quickly interrupted. " Let's not forget that I too am an engineer, as well as a decorated war hero and President. If Harold says this plan will work then I have complete faith in him."

 _(Nathan thought that they all needed a strong show of support to bolster morale. And if he was wrong its not like anyone would live long enough to call him on it.)_


	17. Chapter 17 Recruiting

With the stealth mission a go, preparations began for a coordinated attack if/when the aliens' shields were brought down by the virus. While they had sufficient aircraft, they had come up short trying to find pilots among those stationed in Area 51. So in desperation Hersh had been forced to extend his recruiting efforts to their uninvited guests. Looking over the motley crew, he thought with despair that they were doomed if this was gonna be the fighting force to defend them. But orders were orders, so Hersh let out a piercing whistle to get everyone's attention and started his spiel:

"Alright you losers, listen up. We need some pilots to mount an offensive against the aliens. Any of you bozos know how to fly?"

"I'm a pilot, I can fly" Fusco called out from where he was playing Go Fish with Lee and some others. He put down his losing hand and made his way over to the Colonel, brushing orange dust from his flannel shirt as he went. The food on base had been just as bad as Lionel remembered from the service. If this was to be their last meal, they all deserved something better than an MRE. So he had opened up his stash of junk food to share, glad that he had shopped in bulk at Sam's club. Cheez Doodles never failed to bring a smile to his face, and the people here looked in serious need of cheering up.

Hersh eyed Fusco with distaste and asked about his flying experience. "I was a pilot, and a pretty good one back in the day. Ran into a bit of a rough patch after discharge but kept my hand in, cropdusting and what not. And on a personal note those pain-in-the-ass aliens kidnapped and probed me a while back, and I've been looking for some payback on the pervy SOBs ever since."

"...OK, meet at the flagpole at dawn for your flight assignment."

"Yessir, you can count on me." Fusco handed Hersh a bag of Funyons, executed a sloppy salute, and headed back to his card game. Looks like his luck was changing!

Hersh stashed the Funyons away for later. He actually thought that being completely crazy was a good character trait for someone going on a hopeless suicide mission. Which made this guy one of the more promising candidates on his list of volunteers. But no need to bring up the little backstory when reporting in though. The fact that the man could fly a plane was really all anyone needed to know.


	18. Chapter 18 The Wedding

Reese wanted to prove to Jessica that he was serious when he promised her that this time would be different. He wanted to marry her before setting off on what might very well be his last mission. The problem was, how? There were no chaplains at Area 51.

"I can marry you, I am an ordained minister. I completed a course online" said Harold.

"You never told me you were a minister Harold!" Grace exclaimed.

"There was a lot I never told you" Harold muttered under his breath.

John would have been happy with just a few quick "I do's" to get the job done. But he didn't want to deprive Jessica of her big moment. Besides, the President had offered to give the bride away and John didn't feel like he could refuse.

So after a few hasty preparations, they all reconvened in one of the nicer conference rooms for the ceremony. Harold stood behind a podium to officiate. John stood to one side, Bear seated beside him with the rings fastened to his collar. The remainder of the impromptu wedding party lined up. As bridesmaids Jessica had:

*Shaw: because wherever Nathan goes she goes, and because she had made a snide comment about if ship's captains could marry people why couldn't the President?

*Zoe Morgan: because she had taken care of Jessica until John arrived. Also because she had loaned the bride her wedding outfit and helped her with her hair.

*Grace: because she had looked so wistful everyone felt sorry for her.

Reese had shaved and put on a dress uniform. As his groomsmen he had ended up with:

*Snow: because he stuck his nose into everything

*Fusco: because he was hoping there would be cake

*Hersh: because fate just loved messing with him.

After some jostling and pushing they were all in position, their gazes drawn to the door where the bride would make her entrance. Their heads swiveled back to focus on Harold when he pressed the Play button on the Boom Box and the strains of the Imperial March from Star Wars thundered through the room.

"What?" Harold said defensively. "It was the only instrumental piece I could find. What else would you expect from the denizens of Area 51?"

Any argument was forestalled as the door swung open and the bride made her debut on the President's arm.

A lacy veil had been fastened to her hair, which Zoe had helped curl into fancy ringlets. She wore a tight corset-like top. Long gloves. High heels. White stockings fastened by garters just below her silk panties. The latter clearly visible as the ensemble seemed to be missing a skirt. There was no sound as the bride made her march up the aisle, aside from the strains of music and a bit of heavy breathing from the groom's side

Nathan delivered the bride to her intended and then took his place with the Groomsmen. Harold whispered to Ms. Morgan "Did you perhaps...forget something?"

"No, that's the whole costume" Zoe replied. "It really drives them wild when I do my routine."

"Your routine?"

"Yes, I'm an exotic dancer"

"An..."

"A stripper, Harold" Nathan said with a sigh. Beside him Fusco perked up.

"oh. OH! Yes, well then." Harold cleared his throat and began, ignoring the saucy wink Zoe sent his way. "Dearly beloved..."

The happy couple were too lost in each other's eyes to pay much attention to most of the service. Which was just as well as Harold was forced to fudge a few things, as it had been some time since he took that course. John vaguely remembered something about circles and life being like a piece of pie, but he frankly didn't care. Finally the moment they had all been waiting for arrived, and John and Jessica fell upon each other in a passionate kiss.

Sadly, their first kiss as man and wife also served as their farewell. Hersh grabbed John and hauled him away to begin preparations for the mission, Harold scurrying quickly behind them.


	19. Chapter 19 And Away We Go

After changing into flightsuits, they made their way into the cockpit of the captured glider. Reese tried to familiarize himself with the alien controls, while Harold placed a cushion on his seat and adjusted its position for comfort. Those aliens had bony butts, and their seats were far from comfortable. Reese was secretly jealous and wished he had had the forethought to use a cushion, even if it would slightly dent his macho image. Finally they were settled in place and ready to go. The glider powered up, and Reese slowly pushed the drive stick forward...

 ***THUNK***

The ship lurched backward to smack into the wall. Finch shot Reese an annoyed look, the sudden jolt had almost caused Harold to drop his laptop! "I believe we want to go...thataway" Harold said as he pointed to the open hatch of the hangar bay.

"I knew that" Reese muttered. Making some mental adjustments as to what to expect from the glider, he cautiously pulled back on the drive stick, pleased when this time the ship moved smoothly forward. They both breathed a sigh of relief when they had safely exited the hangar bay into the open air. Harold turned to congratulate Reese but was a bit taken aback by the ferocious grin on the pilot's face.

"I feel the need, the need for speed" John said, deciding it would be best to test the speed and maneuverability of the glider before they reached the Mother Ship.

"Wait, what? The need for...NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! ohmygodohmygodohmygod...gonnadiegonnadiegonnadie..." but Harold's terrified pleas fell on deaf ears as they zoomed off and out of the atmosphere. Laptop clutched desperately to his chest, Harold silently vowed to vomit all over the other man's lap in revenge when this was over.

After a thrilling series of loops and rolls John finally brought the glider to a halt so that they could acclimate themselves to the weightless conditions of space. Space! The final frontier! Reese couldn't believe that he had finally made it. He gazed out the viewscreen at the shining globe of the Earth below, vowing to protect her if it was the last thing he ever did. Glancing over at his copilot he was startled to find Harold taking selfies on his phone using the Earth as a background. (Fortunately for John, Finch had been so distracted by the view that he temporarily forgot his plans for revenge.)

"Is this really the time for that?" Reese growled.

"This may be my only chance. I am going to email this to everyone who ever thought I wouldn't amount to anything in case we live."

"...Take one of me. And be sure America is showing behind me. Not NASA material my ass."


	20. Chapter 20 Elsewhere Around the World

**While our heros were delivering the virus to the Mother Ship, back on Earth the folks at Area 51 reached out to allies across the Globe to plan an attack for when the shields came down**

* * *

In Russia blond ex-KGB agent Ilya Kuryakin wrote down the message as he translated the morse code. His steely blue eyes hardened with determination as he took the message of hope to the others holed up in the bunker.

* * *

In Japan they were elated to hear that there might be a way to bring down the enemy's shields. Godzilla had been doing his best in defending his territory from the interlopers, but had been unable to do much damage with the shields in place. The most that had happened so far was the usual stomping of Tokyo. They hoped the lowering of the shields could coincide with the arrival of backup from Monster Island.

* * *

The Middle East found a hodge-podge group of various forces taking refuge under makeshift tents in the desert. Along with military units from various countries there were two sets of archeological expeditions.

One had been searching for the lost Ark of the Covenant, while the other was looking for a long buried ring thought to be some sort of star gate. A British archeologist acting as consultant for the latter group was muttering "first mummies, then this." Dr Jones argued that his group should have priority. The Ark was fabled to give victory to the army possessing it, and that would certainly come in handy. Besides didn't they have enough alien problems already, why would they go opening the door to some more?

Commander Bond ignored the squabbling of the academics as he took in the plans for the upcoming attack. One thing was for sure, if the Yanks could bring down the shields and give them a decent shot at the enemy he was going to hotwire himself a jet. No way he was going to miss out on the action.


	21. Chapter 21 Speechifying

Nathan gathered his rag-tag group of pilots for a rousing pep talk before the big battle.

"This is not some piddly fight over arbitrary borders, this is a fight for our very survival. We must unite...all for one and one for all. We will fight them on the beaches and on the shores ...And if we can't save the planet you can be damned sure we will Avenge her" (Carter facepalmed—he really did better with Alicia putting the words in his mouth)

Following his speech Nathan hurried over to where his jet awaited. He was chagrined but not surprised to see Shaw waiting beside the plane. "You know I belong up there fighting. Its my duty"

"And you know I belong at your side. Its my job" Shaw replied.

Nathan saw the determination in her eyes and figured he had no hope of talking her out of this. He had never won an argument with Olivia either. Or Harold. Or even Will once the boy had graduated med school and moved out on his own. Nathan figured it was his lot in life to be totally whipped by the people most important to him.

"OK then, lets go kick some alien butt"

"With pleasure, Sir"


	22. Chapter 22 Delivering the Package

They were able to successfully infiltrate the Mother Ship with their stolen glider. A landing protocol came into effect, taking over control of their glider and piloting it into a docking bay. As the docking equipment locked into place, Harold started typing away on his laptop. He smirked triumphantly as he executed the command that would upload the virus into the Mother Ship. "They will never know what hit them" he declared smugly.

Reese found it all a bit...anticlimactic. He tried to hide his disappointment and offered to share a celebratory cigar with Harold before they set off the giant bomb they had strapped to the underside of the glider.

"No thank you, smoking is bad for your health." Harold declined.

"So is an exploding atom bomb, so I think we have bigger worries."

Harold had to concede his point and lit up. Since they were currently locked in place in the docking bay, setting off the bomb would most likely be their last act.

They settled down to smoke their cigars, and then John fired the missile into the control tower. They were fortunate that the ensuing destruction shook them loose, and there quickly followed an invigorating chase through the Mother Ship as they made their escape just moments ahead of the oncoming explosion.


	23. Chapter 23 The Final Battle

The planes cobbled together into a ragtag strike force had flown to intercept the alien ship bearing down on the Area 51. If they weren't able to destroy it before it fired its death ray, the base and everyone in it would be toast!

At the appointed time Nathan fired a missile at the enemy, and everyone waited in anticipation until it impacted on the ship-it appeared that their undercover operatives had succeeded in uploading the virus! But the aliens weren't finished yet, as a number of enemy gliders swarmed out to engage the intrepid defenders from Area 51. The aerial dogfighting became thick and fierce as they tried to maneuver into position for a kill shot at the giant space ship. Finally Nathan was in position for his run at the target. He gave Shaw the honors of the kill shot, and she burst into a big happy grin as she pushed the button releasing the missile. Their joy was quickly snuffed when an alien ship came out of nowhere, sacrificing itself to block the shot. With the giant ship only moments away from incinerating the base Nathan sent out a frantic call "Doesn't anybody have any more missiles?!"

"I do Mr President. Couldn't fire it because the mechanism jammed. But there's another way to deliver this baby..." With that Fusco started a steep ascent up toward the very center of the charging death ray. Moments away from impact he ejected, looking on with satisfaction as his plane impacted the Giant Ship and started a chain reaction of explosions. Nathan flew tight circles around Fusco to act as cover as Lionel slowly drifted toward the ground. Shaw acted as a backseat driver the whole way. When Fusco finally touched down, they landed their jet not too far away and headed over to where Lionel was detangling himself from his parachute. The doors to the secret base opened and a jubilant Lee came running out to congratulate his dad, a smiling Carter and her son trailing behind. Hersh ushered more of the civilians outside for the celebration, glad of the victory but scowling because during the whole invasion he only got to kill one alien.

They all tensed when someone noticed an alien glider coming in low to the ground and straight for them. But they all sighed in relief when it landed and Harold and John climbed out. The two heros were met with exuberant kisses from Grace and Jess respectively.

Nathan smiled as he put an arm around Shaw, for once receiving a smile instead of a scowl in response. He flashed Harold and John two thumbs up. Saving the world really did impress the ladies. They might say it was lonely at the top, but Nathan was determined it wasn't going to stay that way.


	24. Chapter 24 Aftermath

It took a while, but following their victory over the aliens the planet started to pull itself together and rebuild.

Fusco became something of a celebrity as the plucky everyman who had helped to win the day. He made the rounds of all the talk shows and appeared on Dancing with the Stars. Following that his manager, Zoe, got him a job hosting a reality show: "Sucker Punch" where contestants got revenge on those who had wronged them (cheating exes, bad bosses) in creative ways on camera.

Hersh was appointed head of the CIA, while Snow was sent to work at Area 51. Considering them the best of a bad lot, Hersh assigned Donnelly and Szymanski to a little project he had in mind. Evans, who had made coffee through the entire invasion, continued in his same position with the CIA. Since Hersh merely grunted at him instead of making snarky comments, and even let him enjoy a cuppa once he had his own coffee, Evans figured his situation had improved. Snow however was to not have a decent cup of coffee for several years. He should have expected nothing else from Tao, the most useless Private in the army. He didn't know that, fed up with his constant put-downs, Leon had been spitting in his mugs. Their relationship eventually improved when the Private shared one of his Bright Ideas with his boss; about that time people began to suspect that forcing the two to work together had been a Very Bad Idea.

Alicia retired and took up farming in Amish country.

Nathan and Shaw got married, and Nathan won a second term. He was a shoe-in for the next election. After all, he had helped save the lives of millions of registered voters. Shaw was a bit put out to have acquired her own security detail now that she was first lady. But she couldn't shake Agent Groves no matter what she tried. For his part Nathan thought that the Agent bore a striking resemblance to his old secretary, Miss May.

Elias miraculously survived due to the quick action of his bodyguard Anthony, and continued in his postion as Vice President during Nathan's second term.

Will took a position at Area 51. He went to study the aliens, but he also wanted to learn more about his father's and Uncle Harold's younger days at MIT. He got to hear all of Arthur's stories about what they were like back in their college days.

Harold and Grace got engaged.

John and Jessica moved to a house in the suburbs with a picket fence and had 2.5 children (one on the way) and Bear. John had made a mint of money from the best selling biography Harold ghost-wrote for him. The two of them went into business together with their own SpaceX type business launching satellites and sending up their own shuttles.

And if some of the communications satellites had a few extras nobody needed to know.


End file.
